I know, as the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end”. We have been traveling as a family, hardly out of each other’s sight, for over two months. I thought it would be harder, that the kids would be irritable, get on each other’s nerves, or get on my nerves. It has not been perfect, but I have loved having so much time with them. Many of you are screaming at me through your screens right now, “But, you still have the rest of the year!!!” Yes, angry and jealous friends and family. That’s true. But, it is different to be an on-summer-vacation family in Europe than a living-in-an-Italian-city family.
It was such a strange transition to come from eight days in the Italian mountains right into our new apartment. We rented it furnished, but we knew we wanted to make it our own, especially for the kids. So, we made a trip to IKEA, found a home store, bought big rolls of paper towels. We are now doing the sorts of things that people do when they are living somewhere, instead of just visiting. It is a relief to finally hang clothes in a closet that I can call my own for ten months. But, there is something sad about it too. I liked being a vagabond family, living out of two (large!) suitcases.
We went to a picnic at the kids’ international school last week. It is a beautiful campus, high in the hills outside of Torino. Being a public school family, we were a bit awestruck by how fancy and polished the campus appeared. Now, their uniforms are laid out in their rooms for the first day of school tomorrow. They have both expressed uncharacteristic nerves about starting the school year. They have to take a bus (which they never have) and make all new friends. Part of the reason we decided to do our year abroad NOW was because we knew the kids would be more flexible, less likely to miss their friends at home. But, I did feel a pang of guilt as I assured both of them at bedtime that they will love their new school. I really hope they love their new school.
Josh and I are really in for it as well! Tomorrow we start a month-long intensive Italian course, in the classroom for four hours a day. I am excited to have structure around the study of the language. I am a bit bummed that the first day of the kids’ school is also the first day of our school.
Over the past few days, we’ve been talking a lot about the highlights of the summer. We’ve been trying to do top five lists, or one-fav-of-the-summer. Noah refuses to choose. He keeps saying, “the trip”. The whole trip was his favorite. I think he is right. That was mine too.
